Car coupler



Oct. 20, 1959 w. .1. METZGER CAR COUPLER Filed July 31. 1957' IN VENTOR.

United States Pa v r CAR COUPLER William J. Metzger, East Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to National Malleable and Steel Castings Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 31, 1957, Serial No. 675,360

18 Claims. (Cl. 213-146) This invention relates to automatic knuckle-type railway car couplers having knuckle-locking mechanism. It relates particularly to the connection of the lock of such mechanism with a bottom-operated lifter.

In such couplers as typified by the A.A.R. Standard E Coupler, a knuckle pivotally mounted in the front portion of the coupler head is swung from a coupler-locked position to a coupler-opened position by two-armed knuckle thrower pivoted at the junction of the arms. Couplingopening action is imparted to the thrower by a lock which may move in its lengthwise direction in a chamber provided within the head. The chamber and the lock are relatively contoured so that the lock may pivot as its approaches the head or upper end of the chamber, causing a lower leg portion of the lock to swing rearwardly and horizontally against one arm of the thrower and the other arm thereof to engage a tail portion of the knuckle. Pivoting of the lock is conventionally obtained by engagement of a lug extending forwardly from the front face of the head of the lock with the overhanging surface of a recess in the front wall (known also as buffing wall) of the chamber, as disclosed in Metzger Pat. No. 2,709,007.

For the use in a bottom-operated lifter, the lower end of the leg of the lifter is provided with a slot adapted to receive an upper shaft or axle element of a lifter which in its normal position extends horizontally and normally with respect to a vertical center plane of the coupler. The slot conventionally provided also extends upwardly and rearwardly within the legso that the lifter may shift from its anti-creep position at the bottom of the slot to its lock-lifting position rearwardly and upwardly of the slot to avoid engagement of the anti-creep structure. Under severe operating conditions, cars may become uncoupled through failure of the anti-creep structure to limit jostling or other undesired displacement of the lock upwardly from its knuckle-locking position. Occasionally, because of the loose connection of the conventional lock and lock lifter, particularly after substantial wear of the coupler parts has taken place, the lock lifter is jostled from connection with the lock, whereupon the coupler becomes incapable of being operated and, moreover, loses its anticreep protection. The term anti-creep, as used herein, relates to features of the coupler construction which'prevent unintentional dislodgernent of the lock from its knuckle-locking position.

Hence, an important object of the invention is to provide a bottom-operated knuckle-type coupler having greater protection against unintentional unlocking of the coupler.

Another object is to provide a bottom-operated coupler requiring a'simplified lever system for operation.

It is also an object to provide a lock and lifter for a bottom-operated coupler which renders the lifter less likely to be jostled into inoperative positions, or to become disconnected from the lock.

Still another object is to provide a bottom lifter for a lock'consisting of a single member or lever attached to thelowerportionof the lock'leg.

Patented Oct. 20, 1959 A further object is to provide a bottom-operated coupler in which the connection between the lifter and the lock is less subject to wear. Other objects and features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows. 7

The present invention achieves the above objects by forming the knuckle lock and the lock lifter, particularly the interconnecting portions thereof, in a manner providing tighter interlocking relation of the lock leg with the litter in the position wherein the latter is pendantly supported by the lock and functions as an anti-creep device, and provides more positive connection of the lock and the lifter at all positions. In a preferred embodiment, the bottom of the litter is adapted for connection with a coupler-operating lever or system of lovers to cooperate therewith, to prevent accidental movement to, or retention in, inoperative positions.

In the coupler of this invention, the lock leg has an opening which extends horizontally through its lower portion transversely of the longitudinal center plane of the coupler and, in a vertical-alignment of the lock within the coupler, the opening is elongated in a diagonally backward and upward direction. The lifter comprises an elongated body and a shaft connected with the upper portion of the body and adapted to extend approximately horizontally through the lock opening.

As one improvement, the shaft is provided with a pair of anti-creep lugs extending forwardly beyond the endperipheries of the opening at both sides of the lock and, when the lifter is positioned with its shaft resting in the lower portion of the opening, the lugs extend into close proximity with the lower forward surfaces of a chamber in the coupler head which houses a lock and other parts cooperating therewith. The lower forward surface of the chamber has horizontally-spaced anti-creep surfaces overhanging said lugs in the above mentioned position of the lifter. 'The lifter is movable upwardly relative to the look within a range of movement permitted to the shaft within said opening to shift said lugs out of underlying relation with the anti-creep wall surfaces.

, A further improvement in the lock and lock lifter connection is the provision of the inter-locking lugs in both members which form virtually a mortise joint at the lower position of the lifter for inhibiting pendulous movement of the lifter, or abnormal positions thereof relative to the lock which would render inoperable the anti-creep struc 1 ture of the coupler.

An improvement further contributing to the dependability of the anti-creep features of the coupler and the smoothness and reliability in operation of the lock and the lifter in opening the coupler is a construction of the lifter providing Wing-like lugs at both sides of, and just Figs. 3 and 4 are left side and right side perspective,

views, respectively, of the lock illustrated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a side perspective view of a lock lifter as viewed from a point slightly to the rear;

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the lock lifter shown in Fig. 5

Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective views of the lock and the lock lifter of the previous figures shown connected and in different operative positions; V Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view in section taken along lineIX--D(of Fig.1;and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating anti-creep structure provided by the buffing wall of a coupler and the upper portion of the lock lifter of previous figures.

Fig. 1 illustrates a coupler 4 embodying the improvements of the present invention with the parts which are movable relatively to the head 5 thereof in knuckle-locking position. In this position .is shown the lock 6 resting on a tail section of the knuckle 7, with the lockengaging arm of a knuckle thrower 8 adjacent to, but disengaged from, the leg 9 of the lock. The head portion 10 of the lock 6 rests against the inner surface of the forward wall 11 (bufling wall) of the lock chamber 12.

The leg 9 is provided with a slot or opening 14 extending generally horizontally in a direction transverse to a central vertical longitudinal plane of the coupler. The slot' 14 also extends upwardly and rearwardly with respect to the front or knuckle end of the coupler to allow an axle portion or shaft 32 of the lock lifter 16 to move from the anti-creep position (shown) upwardly and rearwardly within the opening or slot 14 to a position wherein the upwardly facing anti-creep lugs thereof pass out of underlying relation with downwardly-facing anti-creep lugs 39 and 40 extending rearwardly from the inner lower surface of the coupler head wall 18. A continuation of the upward movement of the lifter 16, after the shaft 32 reaches the upper part of the opening 14, results in lifting of the lock 6 and ultimately in throwing the knuckle 7 to its coupler-open position.

Lock and lock lifter assembly The various features of the lock 6 are most clearly illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The lock is of the general design, described in another application entitled Car Coupler filed on the same date as a present application but claiming an entirely different invention not herein specifically described and claimed. As shown in Fig. l, the lock and the ceiling of the lock chamber in the coupler head are constructed so that the lock, when raised to a knuckle throwing position, may pivot about a fulcrum formed at the point of engagement of its head projection 21 and the notch surface 22. The improvements with which the present invention is concerned relate primarily to the portion of the lock disposed below the throwerengaging surface 23.

The leg 9 at its lower end comprises a forward wall 25 and a rear wall 26, defining the opening 14 which in the normal orientation of the lock extends transversely to a vertical, longitudinal plane of the coupler. The opening is elongated upwardly and rearwardly within the leg as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. As provided in the embodiment herein described, the wall 26 is wider than the wall 25 to provide side bearing surfaces 28 and 29 at each side of the opening 14, which are portions of the entire front surface of the wall 26.

The lifter 1 6 comprises a body 31 and a shaft 32 having one end connected with the upper end of the body. The shaft 32 extends as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 through the opening 14 and has lugs 33 and 34 spaced longitudinally therealong which extend forwardly in the coupler along opposite side surfaces 36 and 37 of the. wall 25. The lifter, in serving as an anti-creep device, is detained in unintentional upward movement by interengagement of lugs 33 and 34, respectively, with the undersurfaces 40a and 39a of lugs 40 and 39, respectively, projecting from the inner surface 15 of the lower bufiing wall 18 of headS. Y i

As measured in a plane normal to the axis of shaft 32, the width of the lug 33 is approximately equal to that of the diameter of the shaft 32. Preferably, the diameter of the shaft closely equals the distance between the rear wall 26 and the forward wall 25 of the opening, particularly in the portion thereof, in order to elimina'te "undue looseness or relative twisting in the connec:

4 tion of the lock and the lifter. Thus, the width of the lug 33 requires rotation of the lifter relative to the lock to provide somewhat precise alignment of the shaft and the lug in order to pass the lug in an axial direction of the shaft through the opening 14, when disengaging the lifter from the lock.

The anti-creep features of the assembly are based on the fact that the lock and the lifter move as a unit without substantial relative longitudinal movement during any jostling that tends to dislodge the lock from its seat: ed position and that the lifter remains relatively positioned with respect to the lock with the shaft 32 in the lower end of the opening 14. It has been found that if the lifter is not held in substantial rigid alignment with the lock in this lower position, the lower end of the lifter may swing backward during any jostling requiring anticreep protection, and that, when the lower end of the lifter is canted back wardly, the lugs 33 and 34 are inclined in such a manner as to slip upwardly over the lugs 39 and 40 of the wall 18. When this happens, anti-creep protection is nullified.

To eliminate pivoting of the lifter relative to lock in the lower relative position of the lifter, an anti-swing lug 41 is provided in the approximately right-angle corner formed by the shaft 32 and the body portion 31. This lug extends downwardly from the shaft along the inner side of the body, and is received by the lock in a notch 42 occurring in the leg of the lock between :1 lug 43 and a lower corner or lateral lug extension 44 of the wall 26. When the lug 41 fits neatly within the notch 42 in the manner of a mortise joint and the diameter of the shaft 32 is substantially that of the width of the opening 14, the lifter and the lock are incapable of appreciable relative pivotal movement in the safety or anti-creep position of the lifter. In this position, the lower surface 34a of lug 34 rests on the upper surface 43a of lug 43, and the lower edge 45 of wall corner 44 extends in close clearance with the rear body surface 46 (see Fig. l) of the lifter 16.

In Fig. 8, the lock 6 and the lock lifter 16 are relatively positioned, as at the end of a knuckle-throwing stroke with approximately the maximum amount of angularity reached within the assembled coupler. In this po-v sition, the upper surfaces of the lugs 33 and 34 engage front facing surfaces 48 and 49, respectively. It will be noted that the upper surface of lug 33 is higher than the upper surface of lug 34, since the former is tangent to the surface of the shaft 32, whereas the surface of the other lug is approximately aligned with a diameter of the shaft 32. Lug 34 is positioned at a lower level so that an arcuate bearing surface 51 is formed by the upper end portion of the lifter in longitudinal alignment with the body 31. As shown, the bearing surface 51 is a true cylindrical projection of the surface of the shaft 32. A corresponding journal or bearing surface 52 is provided on the lock at the top end of the right marginal surface 29 of the wall 26. The surface 52 is an approximately arcuate cylindrical projection of the upper end surface of the opening 14 and thus substantially extends the hearing surface of the lock which engages the upper end surface of the lifter during the lifting stroke with the object of eliminating possible misalignment from side buckling.

Lifter and actuating lever assembly To further promote trouble-free and smooth operation of the lock-lifter assembly, the lower end of the lifter 16 comprises an eye portion 53, having an eye 54 of which the axis of revolution is parallel to the axis of the shaft 15. With respect to the transverse direction of the coupler, the eye is centered generally in a vertical longitudinal plane of the coupler passing approximately centrally through the length of the shaft 32 and the lock 6 so that a lifting force will be exerted primarily along such plane. Extending from a point to the rear of the eye 54 at both sides of the lifter body 31 at a level about even with the top of the eye 54 are shoulders 56, 57. These shoulders extend in opposite lateral directions in sufiicient width to engage the upper surface of the eye,

portion 58 of an actuating rod '60. However, these shoulders are angularly spaced with respect to a rearwardly extending foot 61 so that the rod 60 may normally extend from the lifter with a small clearance with shoulders as well as the foot of the lifter. Preferably, the foot section 61 extends rearwardly from the bottom of the eye portion 53 at anangle slightly less than a right angle with a generallyvvertical plane containing the lengths of the axes of the shaft 15 and the e e 54.

The shoulders 56 and 57 serve two purposes. First, Because the shoulders rest on the opposite areas of the eye portion 53 of the rod 60' in lifting the lock, the lifter 16 is supported in a fixed alignment by resting on two horizontally spaced points on the upper surface of the eye portion of the actuating rod. Secondly, in the non-lifting position, the shoulders limit the extent of angular movement of the rodrelative to the lifter or vice versa. Thus, under severe impact conditions of train operation, the rod and lifter cannot be jostled into inoperative positions, e.g., wherein the rod is shifted too far forward to properly operate the lifter.

The function of the foot 61 is also two-fold in that (l) the rod and the lifter cannot be jostledrearwardly beyond the angular limit permitted by the foot, and (2) the foot 61 prevents any unintentional forward pivoting of the lifter with respect to the rod during a lock-lifting (coupler-opening) stroke. The lifter 16 and the operating rod 60 may be considered as centered under the coupler and the car frame 64. Operation of the coupler from a position outboardly of the caror the car frame 64 is provided by a lever 65 having an eye portion 66 encircling the shank portion of the rod 60. The lever 65 is hinged in a bearing 67 secured to the front end of the car. The rod 65 further provides a handle portion 68 which may be manually operated at the side of the car.

Operation 7 For anti-creep protection, the lock 6 and the lifter 16 move as a unit from respective positions shown in Fig. l upwardly within the coupler head until the lugs -33 and 34 contact the lugs 39 and 40. The lifter is prevented from any rearward swinging movement which might tend to dislodge the upper part of the lifter from the wall lugs 39 and 40, (1) by engagement of the lower surface 34a of the lug 34 with the upper surface 43a of lug 43, (2) by extension of lug 41 in the notch 42, and (3) by the limit placed on relative pivoting of the lifter 16 and rod 60 by the possibility of the lifter foot 61 engaging the underside of the rod 60. It should be noted that at the instant of engagement of the lug 34 with thewall lug 39, the lug 34 rests on the lock lug 43,-making it nearly impossible in the lifter to tilt out of anti-creep position.

In the uncoupling operation, the lever v68 is turned in a clockwise direction to raise the rod 60 against the shoulders 56 and 57 of the lifter. The lifter is propelled upwardly untilthe shaft 32 thereof engages the upper endof the opening 14. By this movement, the lug 41 rises upwardly out of the notch 42 whereupon the lock is free to pivot with respect to the lifter. Further upward movement of the lifter raises the lock and results in a knuckle-throwing operation in the usual manner.

The separation of the lock 6 and the lifter 16 is obtained by removing the knuckle 7 and the thrower 8 from the coupler head 5 and allowing the lock to drop into its lowest position. The lifter is then raised relative to the lock until the lug 41 disengages the notch 42. The lifter may then be rotated relative to the lock by swinging its lower end forwardly until the width of the lug 33 is aligned widthwise of the opening 14 whereupon the lifter may then be moved in a lateral direction or theaxial direction of the shaft to disengage it from the lock.

- Described in the foregoing are improvements in the interconnected portions of a lock and a lock lifter for a knuckle-type ca'r coupler which impart to the coupler increased protection against unintentional uncoupling, render the coupler more trouble-free and positive in opefation, and the uncoupling action smoother and manually easier to effect than couplers of the same general type heretofore provided. Contributing also to these advantages, in a more specific form of the invention, are improvements in a control system for bottom operation, including the lifter in a specially adapted form. v The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A knuckle-type car coupler comprising: a head; a lockfhaving a head portion and a leg joined therewith; an upwardly-extending lock chamber within a forward portion of the coupler head adapted to orient the lock with its leg aligned downwardly from the head portion and to permit vertical movement of the lock between a coupler-locking position and a coupler-opening position; said leg having an elongated opening extending horizontally through the lower end portion of the leg; a lock lifter. operatively connected to said lock comprising an elongated body and a shaft extending transversely from the upper end portion of the body through said lock opening; ananti-c'reep lug extending forwardly from said shaft beyond the opening at one side thereof into close proximity with a lower generally vertical surface of the chamber when said shaft rests in the lower portion of the opening; said 'head having a downwardly-facing anti-creep surface in spaced overhanging relation with said lug as positioned in said shaft position; said opening extending diagonally upwardly and away from said chamber surface to allow movement of said lifter upwardly relative to the lock within the range obtained within said opening to shift said lug out of underlying relation with said anticreep surface; and said lock having a lug underlying said anti-creep lug and engaging therewith when said shaft rests in the lower portion of the opening.

2. The car coupler of claim 1, wherein: the lower end portion of the lock leg comprises'a front wall and a rear wall having a width greater than that of the front wall; said lock lifter having another lug spaced horizontally from said anti-creep lug and extending from the shaft forwardly past opposite sides of said front wall for securing the connection of the lock and the lock lifter in the assembled condition of the coupler.

3. The car coupler of claim 1 wherein: the lower end portion of the lock leg comprises a front wall and a rear wall having a width greater than that of the front wall, the front wall and a portion of the rear wall defining said opening; said lock lifter being provided with a pair of anti-creep lugs extending forwardly from said shaft to embrace both sides of said front wall.

4. The car coupler of claim 3, wherein: said lock lug protrudes from a lower side surface and faces toward a lower corner portion of the rear wall thereby forming a notch between the lug and the rear wall; the lifter having an anti-swing lug extending downwardly from said shaft in the corner formed by the shaft and the body thereof; said anti-swing lug fitting in said notch in said lower position of the shaft, the length of the anti-swing lug being no greater than that which will allow the lock lug to disengage the notch when said shaft is positioned in the upper portion of said lock opening.

5. The car coupler of claim 3 wherein: the lug on the end of the shaft farthest from the lifter body has a width,

as measured along a plane normal to the axis of the shaft slightly less than the wall-to-wall width of said opening.

6 The car coupler of claim 3, wherein: a forward portion of the lock engages and pivots about a forward upper surface in said chamber, and the lifter is actuated along a pivotal axis through its lower portion; a portion of said rear wall which projects laterally beyond said front wall, and the upper rear surface of the lifter body being relatively shaped to engage when the lifter is raised to a level disposing the shaft in the upper portion of the opening to limit the backward movement of the lifter relative to the lock to an alignment placing the said pivotal axis at the bottom of the lifter and said pivotal forward portion of the lock in a plane forward of the shaft axis.

7. The car coupler of claim 3 wherein: an upper portion of said rear wall extends in laterally projecting relation with the greater portion of the upper arcuate end surface of said opening to provide a concave arcuate bearing surface; and the lifter has an upper arcuate surface in generally longitudinal alignment with its body and raised with respect to the upper surface of the adjacent anticreep lug for pivotally engaging said bearing surface.

8. The coupler of claim 7 wherein: the distance be-. tween the forward and rear wall in the lower portion of the opening is approximately that of the diameter of the shaft and sufficient to permit free upward and downward movement of the shaft within the opening.

9. The car coupler of claim 7, wherein: one of the anti-creep lugs is attached at the end of the shaft farthest from the lifter body and has a width, as measured along a plane normal to the axis of the shaft, substantially as large as the wall-to-wall width of the opening; and the angular length of said arcuate bearing of said lock and the radial length of the anti-creep lugs are limited to avoid interference of the lugs with the lock in rotating the lock lifter relative to the lock to a position wherein said endpositioned anti-creep lug is horizontally aligned with said opening for movement therethrough in the axial direction of the shaft such as necessary for disengaging the lifter fromthe lock.

10. The car coupler of claim 4 wherein: an upper portion of said rear wall extends in laterally projecting relation with the greater portion of the upper arcuate end surface of said opening to provide a concave arcuate bearing surface; the lifted has an upper convex arcuate surface in generally longitudinal alignment with its body and raised with respect to the upper surface of the adjacent anti-creep lug for pivotally engaging said bearing surface; the other anti-creep lug is attached at the end of the shaft farthest from said body and has a width, as measured along a plane normal to the shaft axis, substantially as large as the wall-to-wall width of the opening, and the angular length of said a=rcuate bearing surface and the radial length of the adjacent anti-creep lug are limited to allow rotation of the lifter and the antiswing lug thereof past the top of said lug of the lock to a position wherein said end lug is aligned for movement in axial direction of the shaft through said opening.

11. A lock lifter for a knuckle-type coupler adapted for connection of its upper-end portion with the lowerend portion of the leg of a lock for said coupler, the lifter comprising: an elongated body adapted, in its normal operative position in a coupler, to be aligned in a generally vertical direction and to face in a forward direction toward the knuckle end of the coupler; a shaft extending generally horizontally and laterally from the upper-end portion of the body adapted to extend through an aperture in said lower-end portion of the lock; an

upwardly-facing anti-creep lug extending forwardly from the shaft adjacent the upper end of the body; and anotherv 13. A lock lifter for a knuckle-type coupler adapted for connection of its upper-end portion with the lower apertured end portion of the leg of a lock for said coupler, and comprising: an elongated body adapted, in its.

normal operative position in a coupler, to be aligned in a generally vertical direction and face in a forward direction toward the knuckle-end of the coupler; a shaft extending horizontally and laterally from the upper-end portion of the body; and a pair of spaced antiecreep lugs extending in said forward direction from the shaft, one of said lugs being attached to the end of the shaft further from the body, the other lug being attached to the shaft adjacent the upper end of the body with its upper surface extending forwardly from the shaft at a lower level than the uppermost surface of the shaft to provide an arcuate upper bearing surface in cylindrical projection with the shaft surface.

' 14. The lock lifted of claim 13 comprising: an antiswing lug extending downwardly along a side of the body from theinside corner formed by the shaft and the body.

15. The lock lifter of claim 13 comprising: a lower eye portion of which the axis of revolution of the eye is approximately parallel to the axis of said shaft; and a shoulder extending laterally from each side of the eye portion and upwardly along the body, the lower ends of said shoulders being offset rearwardly of said axis, and at a level closely adjacent the level of the top of the eye.

16. The lock lifter of claim 15 comprising: a foot extending rearwardly from said eye portion at a level closely adjacent that of the bottom of the eye; said foot having an upwardly-facing surface adapted to engage the undersurface of a control member.

17. A lock for a knuckle-type coupler comprising: a leg; at head portion adapted, in the normal operative position of the lock in a coupler, to face in a forward direction toward the knuckle end of the coupler with the leg extending downwardly from the lower end of the body portion; the leg having an opening extending through its lower end transversely to said forward direction and defined by a front wall and a rear wall, said rear wall having a portion extending further in said transverse direction than the front wall; the front wall having means extending in said transverse direction in generally coextensive spaced relation with said lateral rear wall extension to form a notch adjacent the lower end of said opening adapted for receiving an anti-swing lug of a lifter for said lock.

18. The lock of claim 17 wherein: said means is a lug having an upwardly-facing surface joining with a lower rearwardly-facing surface within said notch adapting said lug for engaging the undersurface of an anti-creep lug and the side surface of the anti-swing lug of said lifter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

